People, Locations, Episodes

Lewis Tappan, Abolitionist born

*Lewis Tappan was born on this date in 1788. He was a white-American abolitionist. From Northampton, MA., Lewis Tappan was the brother of Senator Benjamin Tappan and abolitionist Arthur Tappan. His middle-class parents, Benjamin Tappan and Sarah Homes Tappan, were strict Congregationalists. Once Lewis was old enough to work, he helped his father in a dry goods […]

Benjamin Lundy, Abolitionist born

Benjamin Lundy was born on this date in 1789. He was a White American abolitionist and news publisher.

He was from Sussex County, New Jersey and raised a Quaker. Lundy was working as a saddle maker in Wheeling, Vermont, when he first became troubled about the morality of the slave trade. In 1815, he created the Union Humane Society. In 1821, he began publishing the anti-slavery newspaper, Genius of Universal Emancipation. In 1829, Lundy brought on William Lloyd Garrison as co-editor before he moved to Boston and began the Liberator.

Josiah Henson, Abolitionist born

This date marks the birth of Josiah Henson in 1789. He was an 18th century Black abolitionist.

The first anti-slavery law in Canada was passed in 1783 by then Ontario. For the next 68 years it is estimated that 50,000 Blacks entered Canada for safety and freedom. One of them was Josiah Henson, a former slave from Kentucky. During his lifetime, three masters owned Henson. Henson started preaching to raise money in the hope of buying his freedom. His master took the money that Josiah had earned, and then raised the price of Henson’s freedom to $1,000.

Thomas Garrett, Abolitionist born

Thomas Garrett was born on this date in 1789. He was a White American businessman and abolitionist.

The son of a farmer from Delaware County, he became involved in the iron trade and after marrying, moved to Wilmington, Delaware.

Charles Deslondes, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Charles Deslondes is celebrated on this date, c. 1789.  He was a Black abolitionist.  Charles Deslondes was born on the Louisiana plantation of Jacques Deslondes.  Plantation succession records have Charles described as being a “Creole Mulatto slave” by the name of Charles, “about 16 years old”, and listed as a “field laborer.” Contrary to […]

John Mason Peck, Missionary, and Abolitionist born

*John Mason Peck was born on this date in 1789. He was a white-American Baptist abolitionist, teacher, and missionary. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, to a farming family, Peck received little formal education but, in 1807, began to teach school. He was converted to Christianity at a revival at his Congregational Church. On May 8, 1809, […]

Pedro Camejo, Soldier born

*Pedro Camejo was born on this date in 1790. Also known as Negro Primero (“The First Black”), he was an Afro Venezuelan soldier and abolitionist. Pedro Camejo was born a slave of a Spanish royalist, Vincente Alonzo, in San Juan de Payara. He gained his freedom in 1816 after enlisting in the military to fight in […]

Thomas Jennings, Tradesman born

*The Birth of Thomas Jennings is celebrated on this date in 1791.  He was a Black tradesman and abolitionist.   Thomas L. Jennings was born to a free Black family in New York City. As a youth, he learned a trade as a tailor. He built a business and married a woman named Elizabeth from […]

The International Day of “Remembrance of the Slave Trade” is Observed

On this date, the world recognizes International Day for the Remembrance and Abolition of the Slave Trade.

The International Day fis celebrated on August 23 every year.

The nights of August 22 and 23, 1791, in Santo Domingo (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic) saw the beginning of an uprising that would play an essential role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

Thaddeus Stevens, Politician, and Abolitionist born

*Thaddeus Stevens was born on this date in 1792. He was a White American abolitionist. Stevens was born in Danville, Vermont.

John Bathan Vashon, Seaman, and Abolitionist born

*The birth of John Bathan Vashon in 1792 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black seaman, businessman and abolitionist.

Charles Grandison Finney, Minister born

*Charles Grandison Finney was born on this date in 1792. He was a white-American Presbyterian minister and abolitionist.   Born in Warren, Connecticut, Finney was the youngest of nine children. Finney, the son of farmers who moved to the upstate frontier of Jefferson County, New York, never attended college after the American Revolutionary War. His leadership abilities, musical skills, six-foot-three-inch […]

Anna Kingsley, Abolitionist, and Plantation owner born

This date in 1793 celebrates the birth of Anna Kingsley. She was a African plantation owner, abolitionist, and former slave in America.

James N. Glover, Abolitionist and Soldier born.

*James Nettle Glover was born on this date in 1793.  He was a Black abolitionist and soldier. Born into slavery on a plantation in Port Tobacco, Maryland, he was one of three known War of 1812 veterans buried in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery. He was the grandson of John Glover, one of four Black siblings […]

David Lee Child, Journalist and Abolitionist born.

*David Lee Child was born on July 8, 1794. He was a white-American soldier, lawyer, abolitionist, and journalist. David Lee Child was born in West Boylston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard in 1817. Child was the submaster of the Boston Latin School, followed as secretary of the legation in Lisbon about 1820, and enlisted and […]